18.08.2021 Some of our customers have noticed recently that warning messages have been appearing on iPhones and iPads suggesting that their wireless security is weak.
This article has been put together to look at what the issue really is about, how serious the warning message is and what you can do about it.
Since the recent release of iOS 14, some iPhone and iPad users are seeing this “Weak Security” message appearing.
How serious is this message?
This is absolutely nothing to worry about. Apple have been the first to warn their users of this ‘weak security’ situation and on their website are suggesting that the weak security has always been there, they are just the messenger. With iOS 14, Apple has added this message to warn users who are using older, and weaker Wi-Fi security methods. Only WP2-AES and newer protocols now fail to get the warning.
The risk is that someone, intent on stealing your data could attempt to log onto your network (they’ll need to be very close to your house to do this!) and use wifi cracking utility to gain access to your wireless network. Whilst technically feasible, this is not something that is happening at present. Villains are much more likely to trick you into clicking on an email message and fish for your data in this way.
What are these security methods?
The oldest method, from back in the 1990s, is named WEP (if you’re using an old Nintendo DS, for example, it won’t work on anything newer than this!), followed by WPA, WPA2 and, most recently, WPA3.
WPA2 includes two varieties – TKIP and AES. To confuse things further, you may also see mention of PSK too. The important thing to know is that if you’re on anything older than WPA2-AES then you’ll get this message.
Is this a problem with my device?
No. This method of data transmission is configured on your router. As an ISP we are trying to balance supporting as much of our customers’ older equipment as possible and so configure our routers with a mixed TKIP/AES security as standard.
Beacons Telecom is certainly not alone in this.
Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk and Vodafone are just 4 seeing customers reporting this problem. For example, the Virgin Media Hub 3, released just 3 years ago will need correcting, despite the WPA2-AES standard being around since 2004. It isn’t just routers – Virgin Media’s Powerline Boosters are also affected.
How do I get rid of this message?
To change the security settings on the router, you will need to request your router login and password from our support teams.
On the WLAN tab, you can change the encryption mode to AES and the warning will disappear.
The downside is that some of your older equipment may not now be able to connect to your wifi network.
References
Don’t just take our word for this. There has been much written about the subject since Apple released IOS14. Here’s a link to Forbes discussing the issue. Please note, this is an external link and Beacons Telecom cannot be responsible for any content shown.